The big question. One many guys are both excited to ask and horrified to perform. Jeweler Helzberg Diamonds, with help from Rosetta, is out with Proposal Pro, an iPhone app that aims to reduce the stress associated with popping the question. The app offers:

- Tips on choosing the perfect ring
- A ring sizer to make sure it fits
- Tips on how to ask her parents
- How to find the best location to propose
- How to write a memorable proposal
- How to share the news with friends and family

There's even a timeline to tie the whole process together. Sadly, the app can't guarantee a positive response but it sure can improve one's proposal skills. Oh, and sell a few diamonds too.

This...is very, very cool. AKQA has created what they call Mobile Orchestra. With help from the Pacific Chamber Symphonym the agency has made it possible for firends to share a performance of Carol of Bells.

If you gather some friends and point them to Mobile Orchestra, different parts of the performance will appear on each person's individual device. Quite cool.

For the first time in its storied ElfYourself history, OfficeMax has introduced an ElfYourself mobile app which allows anyone to "elf" themselves from anywhere and create a personalized video featuring their photos with dancing elves. So far, the app it is currently holding the No. 2 spot on the most downloaded free apps rankings on iTunes for iOS, according to AppData (alongside Google Maps #1).

To use the app, users can simply upload up to five photos of friends, family and more from their camera roll or Facebook, select a dance theme and the app will generate a custom ElfYourself video that users can share via email or post on Facebook.

An infographic from mobile ad network Mojiva details the planned behaviors of mobile and tablet users during the Super Bowl. Overall, smartphones will remain a primary mechanism of social activities during this year's game,Here are some key findings from the research:

- 9% of tablet owners plan to use their device during the game, while 56% of smartphone users intend to engage on theirs.

- 45% say they use their smartphone during the game to post updates to their social networks, while 58% say they discuss the game through text, IM or email.

A well-designed mobile app, tailored to its audience, has the ability to increase customer loyalty, encourage more frequent interactions and drive sales. If poorly designed, it runs the risk of falling into the vast pool of mobile apps that are used only once, then abandoned.

In this white paper from Appcelerator, you will learn the keys to creating "sticky" mobile apps that keep customers coming back. Using four pillars of the mobile relationship lifecycle - reach, loyalty, engagement and monetization - as guides, you'll learn the most effective ways to connect with customers at the right time, on the right mobile device.

As part of a campaign for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Martin Agency, along with Unit9, has created an iPhone app to help promote a new exhibit; Breathe Art into Life from glassblower Dale Chihuly.

The app allows users to blow into the phone's microphone to create Chihuly-inspired glass blown art. Creations can then be shared on Facebook, Twitter, emailed to friends and saved to a gallery on the Museum's Facebook page.

The app is being promoted through social media and with outdoor and print.

Smartphones and the social, local, mobile (SoLoMo) ecosystem are said to be the future of retail. Where once there was the yellow pages, today's mobile consumer may be accessing the local web through any number of search engines, local directories, mobile search apps and social networks to find businesses.

This shift in the way people search to buy in-store is a reality that needs to be addressed immediately for retail brands to survive in an increasingly hyper-local marketplace.

A recent report from eMarketer has pegged non-voice mobile usage at 82 minutes per day for 2012, an increase of 51.9 percent over 2011's 34 minutes per day. This growth is in contrast to slowing time spent online with non-mobile internet connected devices. This year, eMarketer estimates time spent online will grow just 3.6% to an average 173 minutes per day, compared to 7.7% growth in 2011 to 167 minutes per day.

Sadly, marketers' adoption of mobile as an advertising platform hasn't kept pace with its growth. While mobile is expected to account for 11.7 percent of time spent online, its share of ad spend will hit just 1.6 percent.

A new campaign from the brand whose sole mission is to make women's boobs look bigger than they really are, Wonderbra, is out with a new Digitas-created campaign. Print and outdoor ads, which debut tomorrow, will feature a fully clothed Adriana Cernanova. An app, entitled The Wonderbra Decoder, will detect a QR code on the ad and reveal what she is wearing underneath. All the usual social sharing options will be present as well.

Of the campaign, Wonderbra UK Marketing Manager Martina Alexander said, "We are showing Adriana in her clothes, including simple jeans and T-shirt, and through our new and unique app consumers can reveal the Wonderbra behind the look. It's really female friendly and links to the outfit which was important to us."

Martina, we're quite sure this app will be very male friendly as well.

According to Nielsenwire, in 2011, shipments of smartphones surpassed shipments of PCs and by early 2012, about 50 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers owned a smartphone, accounting for more than 100 million units.

The growing mobile market presents unprecedented opportunities for marketers. According to Statcounter, since January 2009, web traffic originating from mobile phones has doubled every year - accounting for 11.09 percent of global access by mid 2012. In the US, 69 percent of mobile users access the internet on their phones daily, with 46 percent of smartphone owners going online several times a day.